You might think of this as great bed weather, but we are learning to think of rain as cause for celebration. Join in our wildly wet day together at nature school in Harrington.
Would you rather be like a Canada Goose and fly south for the winter, or sleep through winter like a flying squirrel? Today we we took a closer look at hibernating animals. Can your child name some of the hibernating animals we talked about today? (Groundhog, Brown Bat, Wood Frog,) At Coyote Nature School your child is taught about animals that we might find in and around your backyard.
We played a game of 'Who am I?' using some local animals. This game involves question asking and answers that can only be a yes or a no. Asking the right questions can help us stimulate the recall of prior knowledge, promote comprehension and build on critical thinking skills. Try it with your child tonight. Ask them to explain any rules and go ahead and pick an animal.
In winter, there are still animals which are active. How do we know animals are active in winter? What do they leave behind? Today a group of friends pretended to be prey and purposely left some 'signs' along the trail as they decided on the perfect hiding spot. The predator group headed out on the hunt after them. They were looking for the 'signs' while the prey hid quietly. We may have to make the signs less obvious, as this predator group were great trackers!
Wander time in the rain had us thinking about building shelters, creating camouflage blinds or making potions. Keeping our bodies moving and dry are key things to remember when exploring outside on days like today.
Reading buddies are beginning to blossom with some nice teaching and supporting happening as well as attentive listening. We highlighted four different reading strategies that kids can use when they have to 'bust' (decode) a very difficult word. Ask your child if they can recall what the strategies were. Try to encourage their use in daily reading.
Grey squirrel started us on a new journey with acrostic poetry. She found a book which showed us one way to write an acrostic poem that flows with sentences linking all the letters of the word. We had some real experts as we tried to make an acrostic for different nature names. Killdeer's name was very challenging! Ask your child if they can make an acrostic poem of a favourite word about winter or maybe of their own nature name. Tough for Hummingbird for sure!
There is only one thing better than library time....DOUBLE library time. Thanks Grey Squirrel for inviting us back to this cozy place where we can relax and discover books which open up new windows on the world. Reading alone, reading a book to a group, or reading to a listener, all build different skills in young readers.
Our critter for today is one which undergoes a complete metamorphosis. This animals name can be made using the letters WBC. What is the name of our animal? In reading a text about the wonders of this big change we came across a number of interesting facts. For each fact, we tied a coloured bandana around the hall. See if this will help your child recall some of the interesting facts about WBC. What is the end stage of the metamorphosis of this creature? We know that these fuzzy friends are found in the leaf litter, or strangely, crossing roads. A few got to take one home to over-winter. If you find one, here are some instructions to guide you in being a great caregiver. https://www.cambridgebutterfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/woolly_bear_brochure.pdf
Going on a Woolly hunt....didn't catch a BIG (or small one), but TRIED!
Instead we ended up re-imagining a snowman in the rain storm. Thanks to Elk and Firefly for making the original one on their visit to Harrington yesterday.
At our tree friends in the afternoon on the west side of the pond we enjoy leaving snacks for animals preparing for winter. Check in about where your child hid these seeds and nuts today. Heh Larch, what are your thoughts on that rather large tunnel into the base of your Silver Maple friend?
Getting new knowledge down in our journals is part of our literacy time each week. We talked about the importance of adding dates, titles and labelling diagrams. We really notice some wonderful, attentive support given in our Seedling/Sapling pairs. Nurturing supportive relationships between younger and older children is part of what makes this school special. These relationship can work both ways, where our younger children take initiative to help out, offer to carry heavy loads, or find objects missing. They generally make the group run smoothly. Good things come in small packages!
We did some brainstorming for our final day before the Christmas break. I'll be sending an email if there are any things to bring for these activities. We say bon voyage to Wolf as she is off to Europe for a wonderful holiday. Big raccoon will be missed next week and we will try to fill in by snapping some acceptable photos to share the learning. Tamarack will try to keep things tidy around the place while he is gone.
Happy wet weekend to all! You can either follow your child outdoors in the rain, or head to the spa like these two fine fellows:)
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